Improvement in type-writing machines



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Type-Writing Machine.A

No. 215,251. l Patented' May 13,1879.

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W. H. sLooUM. Type-Writing Machine. No. 215,251.

Patented May 13, 1879.

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Type-Writing Machine. No. 215,251. Patented May 13, 1879.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

WILLIAM H. SLOOUM, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN TYPE-WRITING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 215,251, dated May 13,1879; application iiled November 29, 1878. y

To all whom it may concern:

' Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. SLooUM, of Buffalo, in the county ofErie and State of New York, have invented certain new andusefullmprovements in Type-VVriters, which improvements are fully setforth in the following v riage and mechanism for moving thepapercarriage and adjusting its spacing movement for either capitals orsmall letters; also, the mechanism for raising the carriage andreturning it to the starting-point and leaving it. Fig.

7 is a detached view of a part of the key-levers,

showing the arrangement of a part of the mechanism whereby the carriageis moved more or less, according to the space required for the letter tobe printed, showing also a portion of the spacing-key. Fig. 8 representsan enlarged plan view of the type-wheel and a side elevation of thesame; and Fig. 9 is a portion of the carriage, showin how the paper isheld in place while being printed.

My invention relates to improvements in type-writing machines; and itconsists, first, in a new and improved locking device for securelyholding the type-wheel in position while printing; second, in mechanismfor readily changing the position of the type-wheel for printing eithercapital or small letters 5 third, in the arrangement of the machineryfor regulating the movement of the paper-carriage, whereby a greaterspace or movement is made for capitals than for small letters; fourth,in a typewriting machine, the mechanism hereinafter shown, or itsequivalent, whereby a variable\- .l

intermittent movement of the paper-carriage is made, so as to correspondwith the width of the letter to be printed, or so the spacing movementsof the carriage `will vary as the width of the different letters,combinations of letters, and -characters vary, fifth, in theVarrangement and construction of the paper-carriage and the devices forholding the paper back from the type-wheel and ink until struck by theprinting hammer or platen '5 also., in the construction of devices, tobe more clearly hereinafter shown, whereby the paper-carriage is raisedup sufficiently to disengage it from the gearing that gives thetype-spacing movement and brought back to the starting-point, whichmovement winds up the mechanism for actuating the type-wheel, and causesthe carriage to be lowered into position and give the necessary spacingmovement to the paper for the lines of printing. i

In said drawings, A represents the frame o the machine; B, thepaper-carriage. It is held to the top of the machine, by means of therod B1, along which it slides easily. B2 is a rack attached to the lowerfront frame of the carriage, and is made to gear into the pinion B2.(See Fig. 6.) C C represent two paper-holding pulleys'or drums connectedtogether by the shaft o, so as to turn easily in the frame O of thecarriage. The paper is held in position by means of the pulleys O O O2O2 and belts O3, as shown in Figs. 6 and 9.

The spacing movement of the carriage is given by means of the rackB2,pinion B3,.gear.. or ratchet wheels D Dl, and pawls D2 D2, D3` lbeing in dotted lines in Fig. 6. (See alsorFig. l in this connection.)The pawls are jointed to a bar, E. (See Figs. 1, 5, and 6.)

El represents an arm, of which there are two, connected together by ashaft and to each side of the frame of the machine at a point shown bythe letter E2 in Fig. 5, so as to swing easily. Their opposite ends arerigidly fastened to a cross-bar, E2, and to one ofthe arms El isconnected a spring, F, for holding them, upward. The bar E is jointed toone of the arms'El at F1. f

The type-levers F2 are held by arod, F2, as shown in Fig. 5, andare keptup by springs G, and toward the front end they rest on the cross-bar E3..It is obvious that a pressure downward on the keys F4 of any of thetypelevers` willcause a downward movement of the bar E, thereby movingthe pawls D2 D3, i and through the rack and pinion hereinbeforedescribed give aspacing movement to the carriage. p When using smallletters the large ratchetwheel D and pawl D2 are used, the pawl D3 beingout of gear when D2 operating. When it isnecessary to use capitals thesmaller wheel Dl and its pawl D3 are thrown into gear by moving thelever G2 upward, which causes the lever G3 to move into the positionshown in Fig. 1, (the dotted lines g g showing its position when smallletters are used.) At the same time it shifts the type-wheel Hvertically, s o as to bring the capital letters in position forprinting, the small letters gl and capitals g2 being arranged as in theside elevation Fig. 8, or vice versa. the small letters are arrangedabove or below if the operating mechanism is made to correspond.

The arm G3 is jointed at g4, so as to vibrate, and is made of springmetal, or in any other equivalent way, so as to allow a verticalmovement of the outer end, which is slotted, as shown in dotted lines,Fig. l, so as to move easily in the groove g3 in the hub of thetypewheel. (See also Figs. 4 and 5.) II is an arm having the upper partbent, as shown in the detached View, Fig. 6,- so as to incline downward.As the arm G3 is moved, as before mentioned, it is raised or loweredover the inclined end of H', as shown by the dotted lines h 71.',thereby raising or lowering the typewheel.

The action of the type-wheel and its locking mechanism is as follows: InFig. l I` have shown an arrangement of gearing, z' t', operated by thespring I, so as to turn the shaft Il, and by means of gearing I2 I3 (seeFig'. 5) turn the type-Wheel. When a type-key, F4, is forced down therod J (of which there is one for each type-key) will cause the arm J1 tomove, as shown by the dotted lines J2, so that its lower end comesforward and stops the arm J3, which has at the same time been releasedby the upward movement of the locking-wheel K, produced by the arms K4,cross-bar K2, arms K3, shaft 7c, and arm K4, the frame K5 and thelocking-wheel being made to move vertically up and down the shaft L6. Itwill be seen that a pressure on any key (except the spacing-key, whichwill be hereinafter described) will move the cross-bar K2 and arms K1down, and cause an upward movement of the locking-wheel by means of thearm K4, which connects with the frame K5, as shown. (See Fig. 5.) Thisreleases the arm J3 by moving the teeth of the locking-wheel away fromthe pin L on said arm. When the type-keys are released they spring up,and the lockingwheel moves down again and locks the arml and type-wheelin another notch, corresponding with the key and letter last used.

If desired, the locking wheel may be arranged so as not to movevertically, and instead the arm K4 may be made so that its outer endwill drop into a notch in the wheel at the proper time.

The locking-wheel pin L 011 arm J3 is beveled off on one side,y as shownin the enlarged view to the right of Fig. 3,- so as to allow thetype-wheel arm J3 to pass just by the arm J1, at J2, last used, so thatshould it be necessary It will make no difference whether to use thesame letter twice in succession the type-wheel will revolve and re-inkthe letter.

It is well known that different letters require different lengths ofspaces. An I or a J would not need as much space as an L or an M would.To accomplish this, I cut out the key-levers more or less at the bottom,as shown at L1 in the fragment of a lever in Fig. 7. All of said leversare forced up by a spring, G, to the same point against the stationarycrossbar L2, (see Figs. 1 and 5,) so that the deeper the notch Ll theshorter will be the movement of the cross-bar E3, and, consequently, thespacing movement of the paper-carriage will be less.

I have shown larger teeth in the spacinggear D Dl than would be requiredin practice. The smaller the teeth are made and work well the better,and, if desired, a friction-wheel without teeth, combined with the usualgearing for such purposes, could be used, so that in the backwardmovement of the pawl the wheel would remain stationary, and in theforward movement gripe the wheel with sufficient force to move it andproduce the proper space movement of the paper-carriage.

After the carriage has been moved a sufficent distance to print a line,and the springI has run down in proportion to the number of turns thetype-wheel has made, and it becomes necessary to disengage the rack fromthe pinion B3 and return the paper-carriage tothe starting-point, andwhile doing so, rewind the spring I, remove the printing-hammer awayfrom the paper, and give the spacing movement for the lines.

I employ an arm or lever, L2, by which I accomplish all these movements,by means of the cords L3 L4, or their equivalents, as follows: By movingL2 forward, the cord L3 draws the angular arm M, causing it to turn intothe position shown by the dotted lines, and lifts the front `of thepaper-carriage s0 as to disengage the rack, and then draws it to thestarting-point, when the end of the lever M drops into the depressionM2. (See Fig. 6, also Figs. 1 and 4.) As the carriage reaches the limitof its travel the ratchet-wheel T is brought with one of its teeth abovethe end Tl of the standard T2, and as the carriage drops, as beforedescribed, the said tooth, striking the end Tl, is turned, causing sucha partial revolution of the paper-pulleys as will carry the paper to theposition required for printing the next line. If desired, such movementmay be made by clock-work, and the carriage may be made to returnautomatically.

These movements of the carriage further cause the connecting arm M3 tomove the curved arm 0, so that its lower end will force the printlng-hammer P back away from the paper. (See Figs. 4 and 6.) At the sametime the cord L4 (see Fig. 2) draws the arm P4 forward, so as to wind upthe spring I, which has partly run down by operating the typewheel whileprinting a line.

The pawl P2 is formed so that its lower end,

R represents a spacing-lever. (See Figs. 1

i and 7.) It has an opening at the bottom R2,

so that when operating it will not move the cross-bar K2, andconsequently will operate the spacing mechanism without printing.

S represents a small frame supported by a standard, S', for the purposeof keeping the paper away from the type-wheel until struck by theprinting-hammer.

It will be seen that the action of the spacing mechanism in moving thecarriage will turn the angular arm back again into its proper position.

The machinery for operating the printinghammer P is shown more clearlyin Figs. 2 and 4.

U is an angular arm jointed to E at U1, and to the frame at U2.

U3 is an arm rigidly fastened to the printing-hammer rod V, the outerend of which is jointed at V to the arm U.

` X is spring for forcing the feeding-hammer against the paper.

The vertical movement of E imparts a vibrating movement to the arm U,(see Fig. 2,) which moves the arm U3 and the printinghammer.

It -will be seen that when any one of the printing-keys is forced downthe printinghammer is forced away from the paper and springs against itwhen the pressure is withdrawn; butthe mechanism for this purpose Y maybe made so that their action will be reversed.

Y represents a small bell rigidly fastened to the frame of the machinefor the purpose of giving an alarm when the paper-carriage has reachedthe end of its movement, or nearly so.

Y1 is the bell-hammer, (see Fig. 2,) fastened to a swinging bar, Y2,which is jointed to the frame at Y3. Z is a spring for forcing itforward when striking an alarm.

Its operation is as follows: When the carriagc reaches the end of itsmovement, the projection Z1 on the bottom of G1 has forced the point Z2of the bell-hammer lever backward and has passed by said point, therebyallowing the hammer to spring forward and strike the bell. The positionof the point of the pin Z1 being changed by the front of thepaper-carriage being raised allows it to pass freely on the `returnmovement.

Some of the advantages of this invention are as follows: The printing isin front, so as to be plainly seen. Type-wheels of different styles oftype may be furnished at small eX- pense. It prints distinct as ordinaryprinting from inked type, and each letter occupies its proper space, thesame as in `common printing.

I claim as my invention- 1. A' locking-wheel, K, having a device,substantially as described, for changing its position on the shaft L5,in combination with a type-wheel, an arm, J3, provided with a pin, L,and a spring or other equivalent means for operating the shaft L5,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, with the carriage B, of

the angular arm M, cord L3, lever L2, and

platform having a depression, M2, for lifting the front of the carriageout ot' the spacinggearing, as specified, returning it to thestarting-point, and dropping it into position, as described.

3. The paper-carriage, angular arm M, cord L3, and lever L2, incombination with the connecting-rod M3 and curved arm 0, for the purposeof holding the printing-hammerI away from the paper while the carriageis returning (aftera line has been printed) to the startingpoint.

4. The paper-carriage provided with the angular arm M, in combinationlwith the platform having a depression, M2, standard T2 T1, andratchet-wheel T, for the purpose of moving the paper for spacing thelines for printing, as described.

5. The combination of the carriage provided with a rack, B2, and withpaper-carriers, the driving-pinion B3, mechanism, substantially asdescribed, for tilting the carriage and throwing the rack and pinion inand out of gear, the ratchet wheel T, and stationary standard T2, havingan arm, T1, the whole constructed and arranged to move the paper whenthe carriage drops at the end of its lateral movement, as set forth.

6. In a type-writing machine, the spring I and a suitable gearing,substantially as speciiied, in combination with the shaft I1, gearing I2I3, shaft L5, arm J3, having a pin, L, and the locking-wheel K, providedwith a releasing mechanism, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

' WILLIAM H. SLOCUM. Witnesses:

SIDNEY B. KING, DANI.. H. Bnn'rrs.

